


for the world to see

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 01:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5355221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>at the dawn of their endeavor into a relationship (at least, according to makoto and rin), haru discovers that he's found some new inspiration for art</p>
            </blockquote>





	for the world to see

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> for [zipperglass](http://archiveofourown.org/users/zipperglass), who asked for haru sketching aki without realizing. i hope you don't mind the spin i took, but i've wanted to write about haru and art for a long time, and one of the scenarios is something i've been waiting to write for even longer :D

Haru has a very simple, but very important chart when it came to his attention to people. 

Makoto, Rin, and at one point, his grandmother, will always receive about 95%. While not everything they said was important or relevant to his interests, they were worth it for the smiles when Haru shows some type of reaction.

Next comes people who are a bother about 20% of the time, but to Haru, twenty percent is relatively low. This list is not quite as short, but still severely limited in its number. Haru doesn’t ignore them, but they don’t get his full attention either. Rarely - and Haru has noticed that these moments have started to increase in frequency - does Haru actually _care_.

Then there is, well, everyone else. In an effort to avoid conversation, Haru prefers to stick to glaring or just flat out ignoring. It tends to work most of the time.

(only below that was Kisumi. It's not that he doesn't dislike the boy, but damn, did he not know when to shut the fuck up)

His chart was even simpler when he was thirteen: everyone was annoying. There were still a few exceptions, like his grandmother and Makoto most of the time, even a glimmer of Nagisa and Rin, and when they were in class together -

"Haruka!" A light voice echoes off the pool walls as small splashes follow, first from water hitting the pool floor, then the tiny, but rushed slaps of footsteps on tile.

"Ha-ru-ka." Aki crosses her arms over her chest, pronounced due to the wet swimsuit clinging to her figure. Some of the boys on Haru’s team keep their stares on her for a tad longer than they should, and it’s annoying really, because Aki clearly hates it, given from how she usually gives an exasperated groan and makes pointed efforts to avoid looking at the culprits. If it seemed to really bother her this time though, she doesn’t say anything, keeping her focus on Haru.

Aki taps her foot. "Did you record my time?"

Haru hadn’t been looking at Aki this time, instead tracing his fingers onto the bleachers next to him. There was only a gossamer film of water, large drops here and there, but it didn’t stop him from creating circles and lines, a picture of a girl’s figure subconsciously. Aki’s voice shakes him out of his daze however.

Without any verbal response, Haru speaks instead with meeting Aki’s stern look with his neutral expression, lifting up the stopwatch to show that yes, he did record her time, and yes, he very much noted that she’s three-tenths of a second away of beating her personal best. 

(as part of his promise to taking swimming more seriously, he’s practicing doing so by starting to extend it to those close to him as well)

Without any regard for Haru’s personal space, Aki’s mouth breaks into a small ‘o’ before grabbing his wrist with both hands - wet, with a few drops sliding down over her knuckles and the knobs of her wrists. Her touch, though sudden, is gentle, a bit safe really, as if she did in fact give some thought to Haru’s complete lack of desire of people interacting with him to such an extreme level.

Clearly Aki does not care about this on any level, because her face is too busy breaking further into a grin, dimples indented and eyebrows raised, exclaiming, “Did I really get that close? Oh my god, I have to go back in, I still have another fifteen minutes before the girls’ team comes in, please, time me again!"

In approximately 98% other situations, Haru would flat out decline, preferring to go back into the water himself and spend the fifteen minute interlude between the men’s and women’s practice completely at one with the pool.

But there’s something about Aki’s eyes that has him caving even faster than when they were twelve and he risked pneumonia to get her damn scarf.

“Okay."

~

Dating is hard.

Or at least, it's only difficult because he has no idea how it's supposed to be different than just being around people you want to be with. How is he supposed to know he has a girlfriend when they have been doing the same exact thing they’ve been doing since finding out they Aki lived in Makoto’s apartment complex and went to Haru’s schoolima?  
Apparently, Haru is dating Aki. At least, according to Makoto who announces this to Rin via Skype session, with a too gleeful clap of the hands and a frightening smile.

"Haru, what the fuck, really?" Rin had leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, laughing. "You know how to be a boyfriend, right?"

Haru refused to answer, because Rin was being annoying, and _no_ , he and Aki weren't like that. Instead, he pursed his lips and decided to stare at Makoto’s poster above his bed, some CGI racecar from a recent favorite PS4 game that kept Makoto up until 5AM for almost a week. (Haru only discovered this when he was studying with Aki late one night, only to receive a flurry of text messages from Makoto questioning all of his life decisions) (he uses this to change the conversation, turning the tables so he’s the one crossing his arms as Rin scolds Makoto about his sleeping schedule)

The only person who really seems to sympathize is Sousuke.

"You’re dating Yazaki?” He laughed - a strange low growl of a thing - while Haru had been complaining about his terrible experience with his so called best friends over dinner. It’s nearly a weekly thing, meeting up after their classes end at the hole-in-the-wall restaurant a few blocks away from their university. Like always, the duo argued over whether to get pork or mackerel for ten minutes in front of the waiter before getting both, even though the entire staff is well used to the routine.

“Makoto and Rin seem to think so.” Haru spins one of his chopsticks between his fingers with nonchalance.

Sousuke laughs again, “Rin thinks everyone’s dating everyone with his sensitive romance sensor. I wouldn’t be surprised if Makoto has a shitty one too."

“Tell Rin to stop recommending shojo manga to Makoto."

“Tell Makoto to stop recommending Rin the classic romance tales he has to read for class."

The two glare before the conversation is dropped from laziness and Sousuke relaxes in his chair. “I don’t see a difference. You and Yazaki act like you always do."

“Thanks.” It’s flat, but Haru can tell that Sousuke knows it’s genuine.

~

  
Bar crawling is so much effort. For a bunch of pro swimmers, everyone's tolerance is too low and makes them much more social, all the bars they chose are too far apart, and alcohol doesn't even taste good.

He really wants to go to sleep after, rubs his eyes with the back of his hand the entire train ride back, but Rin's smile is reminiscent of a homicidal clown as he flops at the end of Haru's bed and kicks his feet up and down.

"So???"

"Get off. I want to go to sleep so I can take a bath in the morning."

"So ~boring Ha-ru-chan." Rin perks his chin on his palm, his elbow digging through the blanket into Haru's knee.

Rin's been spending too much time with Kisumi. He has no basis for this, but it's annoying.

Haru pushes him off, but because this is Rin, who refuses to stop until he gets what he wants, and because this is Haru, who eventually caves in because to bother doing anything more is too much of a bother, it’s Rin who wins out in the end as he clings onto Haru’s arm and stares at him with a mad smile, teeth bared and extra sharp from the dim light.

“How is it having a giiiiiirlfrienddddddddd?"

Haru immediately takes his pillow and smacks Rin with it.

It then takes approximately ten more minutes of stupidly drunken ramble (“What?! I just want to know what it’s like to date a girl and not a guy.” “From what I remember, Yazaki was really cool. Had a lot of skill too!" and Haru forcing two glasses of water down his friend’s throat to prevent him being too sick in the morning before Rin’s finally asleep. Just to make sure that he doesn’t startle him awake, Haru doesn’t move for an additional fifteen. He chooses to kill time by leaning over Rin and grabbing the hotel pad and accompanying cheap pen. Using Rin’s back as a desk, Haru warms up by tracing the mysterious ways the country’s written language twists and turns into the hotel’s logo before feeling restricted, choosing instead to take over the blank space.

The drawing is meant to be a preliminary (if really the only; Haru is not a planner) sketch for a sculpture for his upcoming assignment as the pen scratches against the rough paper, but Haru quickly discovers that this is something that can’t be recreated with clay. There’s no point in finishing really, but unlike most things, Haru doesn’t get annoyed by a pen scratching on paper, lines showing up from nothing, like the way a single finger into the water breaks into ripples upon the slightest touch. In this case, it’s both. The finger entering the water on the hotel pad is slim, belonging to an equally slim hand and wrist. The knob on the latter protrudes slightly, but not too much so to appear sickly. There’s a ring on the middle finger, a simple band with a small gem in the center, and it’s starkly different from the ribbon tied tightly around the wrist, the small knot underneath darkened to represent the shadow. From the way Haru poses the hand, the way the finger breaks into the water is nothing short of soft and warm.

Haru stares at it for a brief second before adding a second hand, not too much larger than the one already on the page, the first index and pointer finger just caught on the underside of the smaller wrist, the others resting gently as it guides the smaller hand into the water. There. Now it feels perfect.

Now exhausted to the point of properly passing out, Haru tears off the page and cleanly folds it, making slightly more of an effort to reach for his backpack and stuff it into the back pocket, mostly so Rin doesn’t find it and ask him questions about it in the morning.

~

“I think Kisumi is planning on visiting Tokyo in a couple of weeks. We should try and get everyone together for a mini-reunion! I don’t know if you’ve talked to Asahi-san or the others recently, but I bet I can get onee-san to get the boys from his year to come over too. I know middle school was a long time ago, but it’d be fun, right?"

Haru continues to stir his water with his straw, making a game of hitting the same ice cube against the same side of the glass with each cycle. He doesn’t really

“I have to confess, it was nice having Kisumi in my class in high school.” Aki takes a deep breath, “I never really felt lonely, but it was nice having someone there that knew the rest of you guys as well."

“Kisumi talks a lot.” Haru mumbles.

“That’s an improvement! Last week you said you’d like to hide every time he approaches you. I know you like him.” Aki laughs, looking down at her phone at the same time. The light gray background with dancing purple stars causes a soft glow on her features, catches on the few stray strands that have escaped her bun, but they don’t last long before Aki swipes it off the table, grabbing her bag and coat with a yelp.

Haru doesn’t want her to go. He likes listening to her talk; her voice is soft and comforting, and never gets to the point where Haru feels like he’s being talked down to or without reason most of the time. To tell her to stay, he grabs the tips of her fingers with his own, keeping them there as he stares up at her standing figure. 

Aki smiles, “I’ll stop by your place after we’re both done. You’re making dinner, right?” And with a forceful tug of her wrist and a quick peck to Haru’s temple, Aki is off.

Instead of working on his art history report, Haru draws dozens upon dozens of different shaped stars all over his napkin. He wonders how it’d look if it was patterned on a scarf.

~

Makoto’s smirking when Haru joins him for dinner (technically ten minutes late, but they both know this is on time for Haru).

“Aki keeps getting followed by girls about her new boyfriend."

Haru nearly drops his chopsticks in shock before glaring up at Makoto across the table. Well used to this sort of reaction after nearly two decades, Makoto laughs, Haru detecting a new hint of mean-spirited-humor, before continuing, “The beautiful classmate who's always with her during swimming practices, and food, and the one who’s not nearly a foot taller than her who always seems to awkwardly third-wheel…"

“Not dating. I want to keep eating.” Haru glares back down at his ramen, knowing fully well that Makoto will catch on. He knows Makoto does, but if his best friend has anything to say about it during their meal, he doesn’t, but there’s this stupid smile indenting into one dimple on one side of Makoto’s cheek.

When they part ways, Makoto confesses, “C’mon Haru, you know that’s bullshit."

Haru’s ready to argue back, but Makoto laughs his knowing laugh, leaving with a “Your drawing of Aki on your napkin was very lovely."

~

Their homework well abandoned, Aki and Haru find themselves relaxing on Haru’s couch, watching some stupid variety show. Aki is sort of on Haru, her one hand on his leg as they both sit crosslegged, but other than that, nothing’s really different than what they’re usually used to.

Aki’s really the only one watching. Haru stopped paying attention after the dunking event finished and the vat of wasted water was whisked away. He’s gazing off, zoning out, until he notices that Aki keeps rubbing the back of her shoulder with her free hand. 

“Everything okay?"

“Yeah…I’m fine…"

Haru catches onto the lie immediately. It’s a diverging lie that’s used by Sousuke when it comes to his own shoulder, natural to Makoto about, well, everything.

“Here.” Haru lifts Aki’s hand off his leg and guides her so she’s facing away from him on the couch. He presses her back with both hands, recreating swimming strokes with just his fingers and applying just enough pressure as it takes to leisurely move in the water.

“Ah, Haruka, that’s really nice, thank you.” Aki’s back muscles begin to loosen, but Haru doesn’t want to stop yet.

He remembers a single braid down the side of Aki’s head in middle school. Now, she prefers keeping her hair in a large bun at the top, sometimes a high ponytail when she’s swimming, but as Haru’s hands glide through it to pull out the hair tie, he wonders why she doesn’t let it down more often.

From the way she hums throughout, Aki seems to be taking Haru playing with her hair positively. He creates braids of different sizes throughout only to shake them out a few minutes after with temporary waves, and gently massages her scalp as he twists the silken, shiny hair between his fingers.

Eventually, nearly half an hour, no, an hour later, Haru finds himself tracing his finger above the back of Aki’s tanktop, designing an intricate sunflower. He makes sure to create dozens of dots in the center and dozens upon dozens of petals around them. It’s facing up, towards an imaginary sun that’s probably located right where Aki’s mouth would be.

“What are you drawing?"

The burn on his face is new. Haru’s not used to his face feeling this warm. Well, he’s definitely blushed many times, but around Aki, it feels that much hotter. “I didn’t think you’d notice."

Aki laughs, a warm sunny sort of thing. “Of course I’d notice, Haruka. You’re drawing on my bare skin, and your finger is cold."

Haru shrugs. “Guess."

“A flower?"

“Mm."

Aki turns around. Her hair creates a beautiful frame for her high cheekbones and wide eyes, as well as the upturned eyebrows as they consider what’s just happened. 

“A sunflower?"

Aki’s lips are naturally very pink. Haru thinks of the sakura that Rin can’t shut up about, and the peaches that his mother used to bring home from the market. He thinks about the rosy bracelet that Makoto wears proudly on his wrist, a handmade gift from Ran, and Nagisa’s eyes when he comes up with a new plan that Haru’s more than willing to jump onto immediately.

And all of those are beautiful in their own way, but right now, they’re nothing compared to the pinks mixing on Aki’s lips into their own unique shade.

Haru slowly reaches out and stops Aki in the middle of her sentence, middle finger tracing her bottom lip and pointer just hitting the tip of her cupid’s bow.

They’re shaking, vibrate even more when Aki mutters, “Haruka?"

As always, Haru chooses to keep silent. Aki does the same, but doesn’t, pulling down Haru’s wrist and leans forward, kissing him just as the variety show transitions into a commercial in the most blaring, undignified manner.

If Haru was warm, he has to be sweating now.

~

Haru initially wakes up at 6AM, like every other day, with the intention of taking a bath, but he’s stopped by the sound of quiet breathing next to him, an accompaniment to the weight sinking down on a usually empty side of Haru’s bed.

Aki is beautiful in the morning. Haru reaches over quietly, recreates the drawing he had made last night on the back of Aki’s neck, but surrounds it with waves, a sea that makes for an unfit environment for a sunflower, but Haru has never cared for logistics.

Aki mumbles with a smile burrowed into Haru’s pillow, her hair spilling onto the cornflower blue of the pillow case and the navy of Haru’s long sleeved cotton shirt on her. It’s not too big, but enough to cover up to the very tips of her thighs (from this angle, enough to make Haru wonder if Rin and Gou feel the same about female musculature as male) and to conceal her curves. 

“Please keep doing that. You’re a beautiful artist, Haruka."

Haru _guesses_ that he’s dating Aki. He doesn’t have a problem with it at all.

**Author's Note:**

> (the specific scenario i was talking about is drawing on his partner's back rest in pieces)
> 
> after finishing, i realized i'd gladly read anything about sousuke, aki, and haru all going to the same uni and hanging out. that'd be amazing.


End file.
